"He was calling for help, so I tried to go in after him," said the victim's 16-year-old friend Anthony Muskelly. "A wave pushed me back...I tried to go in even further...but a wave kept pushing me back."

Witnesses watched helplessly as the 14-year-old waded into the water up to his neck and got hit with a wave in the back of the head.

"He was on top of me then the waves came and took him," said Devon Humphrey.

Lifeguards at Riis Park finished their shifts at 6 p.m. Police say they got the distress call around 7:20 p.m.

For hours, divers and NYPD choppers searched for the teenager's body -- but to no avail.